FBI Advises Universities To Monitor Chinese Scholars And Students

American research institutes are
being encouraged by the US intelligence agencies to come up with protocols for
monitoring students and visiting scholars from research institutions that are
Chinese state-affiliated. To put it simply; the US suspicion about China has
found its way into academia. Since 2018, FBI officials have been to a minimum
of 10 members of the Association of American Universities, comprised of 62
research universities, along with an unclassified list of Chinese research companies
and institutions.

American universities have been
advised to carry out monitoring of scholars and students that are associated
with the entities on the list on American campuses. The news comes from three
administrators who were briefed at different institutions. Furthermore, the FBI
officials have also advised the universities to review the research that is
ongoing and features Chinese individuals that might have applications in
defense.

According to Fred Cate, vice
president of research at Indiana University, ‘We are being asked what processes
are in place to know what labs they are working at or what information they are
being exposed to. It’s not a question of just looking for suspicious behavior —
it’s actually really targeting specific countries and the people from those
countries.’ On the other hand, the FBI says that it ‘regularly engages with the
communities we serve. As part of this continual outreach, we meet with a wide
variety of groups, organizations, businesses, and academic institutions. The
FBI has met with top officials from academia as part of our ongoing engagement
on national security matters.’

It is also being claimed that law
enforcement agencies have also advised monitoring other nationalities as well,
but the FBI briefings were focused on visitors from China. It should be noted,
however, that such encouragements or suggestions are purely advisory and not
mandatory. According to administrators of the universities, they have not yet
incorporated any sort of monitoring protocols so far because of the skepticism
that they have about the level of threat and the lack of specificity on FBI’s
part.

On another front, intelligence
officers are also conducting briefings of American CEOs, investors, and think
tank experts about Chinese cybersecurity and espionage threats. William
Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center,
said, ‘What we provide them is the classified information that we get from the
collection priorities of China specifically: What they’re trying to collect on,
what they’re interested in our campuses.’

It was reported that more than
340,000 Chinese students were studying in the US last year by the Department of
Homeland Security. Such measures could not only prove to be difficult but also
next to impossible. However, Trump administration is focused on its trade war
with China, and it seems that things are escalating.